Attorney Won't Release Election Data

August 25, 1989|By MARK DAVIDSON Staff Writer

NEWPORT NEWS — The city attorney refuses to release copies of letters between her office and the U.S. Justice Department even though most City Council members agree that the records, which deal with how the city's mayor will be elected, could be made public.

Verbena M. Askew said she is bound by law not to honor a Freedom of Information Act request from the Daily Press. The newspaper has asked to see correspondence between the city and the Justice Department that led to last month's controversial ruling on mayoral elections.

The Justice Department ruled that city residents cannot begin electing their mayor because that system would be unfair to blacks. Currently, council members select a mayor from among themselves every two years.

City officials are fighting the ruling because residents, both black and white, overwhelmingly supported the change in a 1987 referendum.

Askew said her "attorney-client privilege" with the City Council requires her to keep those records and most others in her office confidential. She said her office is exempt from the state Freedom of Information Act, which requires that the vast majority of public records be made available upon request.

She suggested the newspaper try to obtain the same records from the Justice Department. The newspaper has filed an FOI request with the department.

"I'm not trying to hide anything. In fact, I've told you where you can get that information," Askew told a reporter. "I just cannot release those files."

The only way records in her office are made public is if the council agrees to release them, she said.

Four council members, who said they hadn't even seen the file, said they believed the information could be made public and would consider directing Askew to release it to the news media. They have not done so yet.

"I personally don't have any problem releasing the information, but we need to talk to Verbena about if it would have any effect on our case," Councilwoman Margaret W. Keator said, noting that the city could end up challenging the Justice Department's decision in court.

Council members Joe S. Frank, Barry DuVal and William Fitzgerald said they think the public might benefit from the information but said they want to talk to Askew about the contents of the file before taking action to release it.

Over a 1 1/2-year period, the Justice Department wrote the city attorney's office several times asking for more data about past voting records, and the city responded. The newspaper believes that correspondence could help explain the ruling.

"We think the public has a right to know whether any actions by the city caused the Justice Department to make its surprising decision," Editor Jack W. Davis Jr. said.

"We find it surprising that the city attorney wouldn't readily make this public," Davis said.

A colleague of Askew's, an attorney for another Hampton Roads city who asked not to be named, supported her position.

"Basically, working papers of a city attorney are privileged, and I would consider those working papers," the attorney said. "My gut feeling is that hers is a proper answer."